


In Black and White

by Ysabetwordsmith



Category: Star Trek
Genre: Blind Character, Blindfolds, Blindness, Cheron, Cooperation, Diplomacy, Disabled Character, Disabled Character of Color, Enemies to Friends, Federation, Female Character of Color, Gen, Logic, Physical Disability, Racism, Vulcan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-13
Updated: 2013-06-13
Packaged: 2017-12-14 20:34:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/841100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ysabetwordsmith/pseuds/Ysabetwordsmith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yang Xiali (Taiwan born and grown on Vulcan due to a diplomat mother) is the chief diplomatic officer on the USS Saturn.  Having lost her sight on her first mission, she has adapted very well.  This comes in handy when teaching a surly bunch of Cherons not to kill each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Black and White

For years the Federation believes  
that the people of Cheron  
have obliterated themselves on the last battlefield.  
Then word comes of a colony world  
settled by political dissidents  
who wished to find some way of living with each other  
although neither side has the slightest idea  
where to begin.

Yang Xiali, chief diplomatic officer on the USS _Saturn,_  
is visiting her Vulcan home when the news arrives.  
Starfleet suggests that she guide the delegates  
through the delicate process of diplomacy  
and teach them how not to step on each other's toes.  
She points out, gently, that these are not tolerant people  
and wonders how they will react   
to a blind woman trying to lead them.  
Starfleet replies that she is the best possible guide,  
with her background in Taiwanese history  
and her awareness of old Earth's own racial issues  
straddling the many conflicts between East and West.  
If humans can overcome so much inertia to greet the stars in peace,  
then surely, it must be possible for anyone.

Yang Xiali accepts the mission  
and travels to Vulcan's capitol  
to meet the black-and-white delegates.  
They are as edgy and fierce as eels,  
electricity spitting from their skin in loud sparks.  
When she shakes their sweaty hands,  
their agitation nips at her fingers.  
She sidesteps their bold questions of her capability  
and asks them about the source of their dispute.

They tell her that it all has to do with colors:  
this one is white on the _right_ side,  
that one is white on the _left_ side.  
She nods in acknowledgement  
and promises to help them work on the problem.  
She does not say aloud   
the part where she finds it utterly ridiculous,  
because to them it matters totally and terribly,  
so it must influence her approach with them.

Yang Xiali soon learns  
what the crew of the _Enterprise_  
learned so long ago:  
these people are capable of being rational  
as individuals,  
but as soon as they see each other,  
they fall to fighting with atavistic fury,  
as predictable as Siamese fish.

Nothing she tries does any good:  
not educational workshops,  
not active listening,  
not mediation,  
not even meditation taught by Vulcan masters.

In desperation, she turns to the absurd  
and drags them into her world,  
tying blindfolds on the protesting delegates.  
Slowly they calm down,  
like hooded hawks, alert yet at rest,  
waiting for a word from her.

Yang Xiali murmurs encouragement   
as she mixes them up,   
putting people into different teams.  
Now they do not know each other's voices  
and she does not let them touch  
to engage the polarity of their powers.  
She places them across tables or   
makes them message each other through computers.  
The delegates are apprehensive and adrift  
without the lifelong cues upon which  
their prejudice and their polity depend.  
They grope their way toward tolerance  
and gradually they find that  
when they cannot meet face-to-face,  
it is easier for them to see eye-to-eye.

She is determined to teach them.  
They are determined to learn,  
however hampered by their history.  
They are willing to try   
even her wildest ideas,   
the ludicrous lessons with puzzles  
and games and field trips into the city.

The hot sun slips through Vulcan's sky,  
leading the patient change of desert seasons.  
The rain falls,   
and their little party hears only thunder and water;  
they do not heed the lightning.  
The flowers bloom,   
but neither delegates nor diplomat see the colors;  
they only smell the perfume filling the air.  
The refugees of a war-torn world  
are learning to feel before they speak,   
and beginning to appreciate that  
when they cannot see each other,  
they can see more clearly.

By the time their hovercar  
stalls on a drive through the botanical park,  
they are laughing _with_ each other  
not _at_ each other  
as they try to jumpstart the engine  
still blindfolded.

**Author's Note:**

> The Cheron race first appeared in the original Star Trek episode "[Let That Be Your Last Battlefield](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_That_Be_Your_Last_Battlefield)."
> 
> [Siamese fighting fish](http://www.siamsbestbettas.com/) _(Betta splendens)_ are notoriously aggressive toward each other.
> 
> [Active listening](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_listening) and [meditation](http://nccam.nih.gov/health/meditation/overview.htm) are peacemaking techniques.


End file.
